Origen of Alexandria, one of the earliest Christian mystics, suggested that the Bible needs to be read on three levels: the literal, the moral, and the mystical.
It's important to understand the distinctions between these three approaches to the scriptures.
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I know two elderly monks at the local monastery near where I live, both of whom have reputations as "real mystics." Indeed, I would agree with this assessment — they both strike me as genuine contemplatives, true living mystics. But they are very different from one another in some key ways.
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So instead of the heart of contemplation being thought or cogitation, in a spiritual sense, contemplation is wordless prayer.
It's not about thought — in fact, contemplation takes us to a place beyond thought.
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The "idea" that I'm referring to is the notion that Christian spirituality can be understood as involving three stages. To give this notion a bit of gravitas, Origen appealed to the Hebrew Scriptures.
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